American Leader/Gardener

palmetto_gardener(6b)July 3, 2009

While reading Jeff's posting about Independence Day, I thought of one of our nation's leaders, Thomas Jefferson, who was an avid gardener. If anyone has not checked it out, www.monticello.org is interesting with quotes from his diaries describing plants/seeds listed for sale.

We really don't teach our children about what truly incredible Renaissance men those guys were! Our founding fathers were extremely well educated. They could read and write in Latin, speak several languages, they were capable scientists/botanists/farmers/businessmen/politicians all in one that were well-rounded and well-versed in almost everything you can possibly think of. I doubt that 5% of today's college graduates could hold a candle to the level of education those men possessed.

Jefferson and Franklin were my idols growing up, for the very reason that they were Renaissance men with diverse interests and skills. (Now if only I could become wealthy enough to pursue all my interests whenever I felt like it!) In fact, when I first met Chip, his signature line said "Renaissance Man." I knew I had a winner at that point! :-)